Reviews

MechAssault

After around a dozen-or-so online games, you'll begin to appreciate how great Bungie is. Why? Because they've inadvertently helped every Xbox action title by creating a fabulous joypad button configuration for combat games -- MechAssault follows this almost exactly. The L trigger cycles weapons (which your mech has around two of), the R trigger fires, and both control sticks are used for walking and turning.
For those without previous MechWarrior gaming, the experience is like playing Halo, but from a behind-cam perspective, and at a slower pace. In fact, the only problem I had with the maneuvering was the pressing of the left control stick to enable your mech's jump-jets. Your left thumb keeps slipping off, and straining to control your craft at the same time. After a couple of hours of constant thumb molestation, the thumb pain was beginning to aggravate me.

After a couple of weeks of online play however, you're sure to have perfected your own mech, and perhaps even created your own type of game. The cool, open-ended nature of MechAssault has allowed, for example, the less sane members of Day 1 Studios to create their own "Candy Monster" combat offering. Pick the regular deathmatch, pick one friend to play a giant mech (the "Monster"), have the rest of the players suit up as Elementals with the "Brat" voice mask for extra insanity, and get them to pile on the big mech, shrieking "candy! candy! CANDY!"

Attacking a heavy mech with a light mech in a giant sand arena? Disaster.

You'll want to turn your headset volume down, but once the mech is destroyed, and the "candy" (the items the mech leaves behind) is stolen, you'll be able to begin again. The winner is the side with the most kills. And, you're free to create your own unique game types with like-minded associates. It's this kind of slightly warped, but undeniably fun, and freeform "non-programmed" gameplay that's going to add months of replayability to this already deep combat title. Well, that and the extra levels, mechs, and weapons you'll soon be able to download. For free.

Although this doesn't quite have the graphical polish and limitless mech-part interchanging of the Armored Core series, MechAssault is still the best console mech game money can buy -- as long as you're going online to get your dollars' worth.